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Paradox Valley blazingstar

Habit Plants biennial, usually cylindric, rarely candelabra-form.
Stems

solitary, erect, straight;

branches distal or along entire stem, ± equal, perpendicular to stem, especially proximal and mid-stem, or slightly antrorse, especially distal, straight; hairy.

Leaves

blade 38.1–95 × 6–17(–26) mm, widest intersinus distance 1.6–4.7 mm;

proximal oblanceolate, lanceolate, or elliptic, margins dentate to serrate or pinnate, teeth or lobes 10–22, slightly antrorse or perpendicular to leaf axis, 2–6.8 mm;

distal elliptic to lanceolate, base not clasping, margins dentate to serrate or pinnate, teeth or lobes 8–16, slightly antrorse or perpendicular to leaf axis, 2.4–8.5 mm;

abaxial surface with simple grappling-hook, complex grappling-hook, and needlelike trichomes, adaxial surface with needlelike and occasionally simple grappling-hook trichomes.

Bracts

margins entire.

Flowers

petals golden yellow, 8.3–14.5(–17.2) × 1.7–5.3 mm, apex acute to rounded, hairy abaxially;

stamens golden yellow, 5 outermost petaloid, filaments narrowly spatulate, slightly clawed, 4.9–12.5 × 1.2–3.8 mm, with or without anthers, second whorl with anthers;

anthers occasionally twisted or straight after dehiscence, epidermis papillate or not;

styles 5.4–10.4 mm.

Capsules

cup-shaped, 5–9 × 3.7–6.5 mm, base rounded, not longitudinally ridged.

Seeds

coat anticlinal cell walls straight to slightly wavy, papillae 6–11 per cell.

2n

= 20.

Mentzelia paradoxensis

Phenology Flowering Jun–Sep.
Habitat Sparsely vegetated gypsum knolls.
Elevation 1500–2000 m. (4900–6600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CO
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Mentzelia paradoxensis is known only from white gypsum hills in Paradox Valley, Montrose County.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 12, p. 505.
Parent taxa Loasaceae > Mentzelia > sect. Bartonia
Sibling taxa
M. affinis, M. albescens, M. albicaulis, M. argillicola, M. argillosa, M. aspera, M. asperula, M. candelariae, M. canyonensis, M. chrysantha, M. collomiae, M. congesta, M. conspicua, M. crocea, M. cronquistii, M. decapetala, M. densa, M. desertorum, M. dispersa, M. eremophila, M. filifolia, M. floridana, M. flumensevera, M. goodrichii, M. gracilenta, M. hirsutissima, M. holmgreniorum, M. hualapaiensis, M. humilis, M. integra, M. involucrata, M. inyoensis, M. isolata, M. jonesii, M. laciniata, M. laevicaulis, M. lagarosa, M. leucophylla, M. librina, M. lindheimeri, M. lindleyi, M. longiloba, M. marginata, M. memorabilis, M. mexicana, M. micrantha, M. mollis, M. monoensis, M. montana, M. multicaulis, M. multiflora, M. nitens, M. nuda, M. obscura, M. oligosperma, M. oreophila, M. pachyrhiza, M. packardiae, M. pectinata, M. perennis, M. polita, M. procera, M. pterosperma, M. puberula, M. pumila, M. ravenii, M. reflexa, M. reverchonii, M. rhizomata, M. rusbyi, M. saxicola, M. shultziorum, M. sivinskii, M. speciosa, M. springeri, M. strictissima, M. thompsonii, M. tiehmii, M. todiltoensis, M. torreyi, M. tricuspis, M. tridentata, M. uintahensis, M. veatchiana
Name authority J. J. Schenk & L. Hufford: Madroño 57: 249, fig. 2A. (2010)
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